Concealed cabinet



May 16, 1933. H. P. EDWARD 1,908,831

CONCEALED CABINET Filed April 29, 1929 2 Sheets- Sheet 1 H. P. EDWARD May 16, 1933.

CONCEALED CABINET Filed April 29, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented May 16, 1933 UNITED STATES HARRY P. EDWARD, OF PORTLAND, OREGON CONCEALED CABINET Application filed April 29, 1929. Serial No. 358,987.

This invention relates to receptacles having a pivoted adjustable closure and more particularly to such receptacles as medicine cabinets. The principal object of the invention lies in the provision of a concealed wall cabinet the closure for which shall be a mirror which when closed shall give no indication whatsoever of the presence of the cabinet.

A second object of the invention lies in the provision of a new and useful hinge specifically adapted for use with a concealed cabinet. A further object of the invention lies in the combination between a mirror closure and a hinge together with optional means for forming a resilient holding means for securing the mirror in closed position. A still further object of the invention lies in the provision of a medicine cabinet to be embedded in the wall with its front face flush with the surface of the wall and havin a closure which will entirely hide the ca inet, such closure being adapted to have universal movement about the end of the bracket by which the closure is supported.

This application is a continuation in part of my application Serial No. 134,100, filed September 7, 1926.

At the present time medicine cabinets usually projectfrom the wall altho there are numerous examples of cabinets which can be embedded in the wall flush with the surface but each of these latter type are somewhat unsightly due to the obvious presence of the hinge which cannot be concealed and still have a straight hinge movement. The present invention contemplates the provision of an extremely attractive cabinet which has already gone far toward eliminating the oldfashioned medicine cabinet with its tell-tale mirror door usually quite unsightly and tolerated only because 'of the necessity for a cabinet in which to placeobjects which one does not care to leave around loose in the 45 bathroom.

The present concealed medicine cabinet gives no indication whatsoever of its utilitarian object for it is a thing of beauty in and of itself embodying a sheet ofthe finest.

glass, beveled and engraved in Venetian fashion with graceful wheel-cut designs. To replace the plain plate of the ordinary medicine cabinet with a Venetian mirror would generally not improve matters because of the unsymmetrical appearance necessary when using a straight side hinge. In the present invention by substituting for the usual hinge an adjustable hinge and by making all parts of this hinge receivable within the cabinet :1 new era in medicine cabinets 60 is ushered in. While certain of the cabinets are made rectangular to meet a generally severe artistic treatment of the room most of the cabinets are shaped at the top, more usually having a graceful curve, often a 65 semi-circle, at the top, the mirror almost .invariably being beveled and such fastening means as are used being hidden by ornamental glass studs.

In the drawings Figure 1 shows a concealed medicine cabinet with its closure open and tilted forward at the top to give a convenient position for shaving.

Figure 2 shows the receptacle in central cross section and shows the closure in an extreme position so as best to illustrate the relation of the parts.

Figure 3 is an end view of the clamp in position of the mirror.

Figure 4 shows a slightly modified form of hinge designed to permit greater use of full width shelves.

Figures 5 and 6 show details.

The casing of the cabinet or receptacle is denoted generally by the numeral 10 and is preferably made entirely of wood having a bottom 11, sides 12 and 13, with a top 14, here illustrated as an arch. The optional back 15 is preferably of somewhat thinner wood usually cross-plied or veneered as is the closure backing 16. While I might readily use a light metal spider for supporting the mirror 20, I much prefer the thin strong wood backing 16 as illustrated. This wood backing is beveled and I prefer that it shall be of appreciably greater size than the front face of the cabinet, but slightly smaller than the mirror. By making the wood backing a trifle smaller than the inside dimensions of and engaging a nut 23 which is embedded in the backing and may be covered by a thin sheet of veneer 25 of a higher priced wood if such be used, which obviously is optional. The glass is countersunk and I place a rubber gasket 26 between the head 22 and the mirror and then hide both the head and the gasket by means of an ornamental glass stud 27 having a thin screw shank which is received into a hole tapped in the center of the screw head. In this manner there is nothing on the face of the mirror to indicate that the device is anything other than an ordinary.

wall mirror. I

At either the right hand or the left hand side of the receptacle depending upon its relation to the next adjacent wall'I mount a base 30 having two integral angular ends 31 which form-bearing members for the vertical hinge end 32 of a bracket, the center portion of which is numbered 33 and is hereinafter called an arm. The free end of the arm is bent upwardly forming a pivot 34 the active portion of which is slightly reduced so as to form a shoulder 37. i

To the backing is secureda pair of saddles 40 having central concave portions 41 spaced a trifle away from the backing and shaped to engage somewhat less than half the circumference of the reduced trunnion ends 42 of a cylindrical member 43 which I have termed the shaft. The two saddles 40 are secured to the backing by means of screws 44 locked by one or more nuts 45 and passing thru the caps 47 receiving beyond them some adjusting means as for example the thumb nuts 48. Each saddle and its cooperating cap or clip 47 constitute a clamp which may be adjusted so as to give any desired frictional resistance to movement of the shaft about a horizontal axis. The shaft 43 has a central bore 49 which receives fairly'snugly the reduced end, 34, the latter and the bore being sufficiently tight fitting so that the mirror will remain at any position to which it is turned about the vertical axis of the pivot 34.

A resilient clip 69 is placed near one edge of the closure and cooperates with a keeper 62 at the side 12 of the casing. This rather usual fastening is optional and if a single fastening means is to be used I much prefer the clasp illustrated as located on the backsired.

ing near the hinge 32. This clasp consists of a pair of simllar cli s, identical by the way with the clip an spaced apartso as to receive between them the horizontal portion or arm 33 of the bracket when the mirror is in closing position. The action is rather light but well sufficient to hold the mirror closed while yielding readily when the mirror is opened from the side distant from the hinge. In practice the clasp 64 and the clip 60 are both used and while this is preferred either fastening means may be used alone.

The casing 10 or embedded portion of the cabinet is fitted in the usual manner, preferably having shelves 65 of heavy plate glass which are spaced in such fashion, if they are to be the full depth of the casing, so as to clear the bottom of the bracket end 32 and to clear the tops of the thumb nuts 48. Frequently however some or all of the shelves 65 are made slightly shallower in which case the may be placed in any position det might be noted in this connection that the extreme projection of any portion of the hinge into the casing is less than one inch which gives ample room for a shelf having a front to back depth of more than two inches.

The appearance of the plate glass mirror is much enhanced by the provision of a bevel such as and the engraving of graceful wheel-cut'designs on the back face of the mirror, for example, the flower, sprays and drops denoted as a whole by the numeral 71.

This leaves the entire surface of the mirror plane except for the studs 27 rendering it very easy to keep the mirror clean.

In the modification shown in Figure 4 the parts are identical with the preferred form save that the downturnedend 32 of the bracket is bent in reverse direction, i. e., upward, as denoted by the numeral 72. This portion of the bracket may carry a collar 73 which rests upon the lower bearing 74 while near the up er end of the hinge portion 72 of the brac et is a second, preferably independent, bearing 75. The advantage of I this form is that it affords greater room for full depth shelves.

While the location of the various parts is somewhat a matter of choice I find it preferable to have the shaft 43 located about centrally from top to bottom on the backing. WhileI might readily add a weight to the backing so as to bring the center of gravity in line with the center of the shaft 43, I do not find this at all necessary as the mirror is reasonably heavy and the bracket itself quite sturdy so that the spacing of the shaft away from the hinge side of the cabinet isan advantage inasmuch as the placing of the center of gravity between the hinge end32 of the bracket and the pivot end 34 of the same bracket tends to provide the necessary binding between the shaft 43 and the pivot 34 which makes it possible to have these parts somewhat looser than is necessary where I have the pivot 34 alined with the center of 5 gravity of the closure.

In operation the casing or wooden portion of the cabinet is embedded in the wall with the front faces of the portions 11, 12, l3 and 14 flush with the plaster line. The

0 backing 16 is approximately of the same thickness as the Venetian mirror 20 and being beveled as indicated at 76 it affords aconvenient slot, so to speak, between the sur-- face of the wall and the mirror so that the 5 closure can be opened from any edge, i. e., top, bottom, or either side. Generally it is slightly easier to open the cabinet by pulling outwardly at the top of the round portion of themirror. With the edge of the bottom 11 0' acting as a fulcrum the shaft 43 turns about its horizontal axis in the clamps 41 and 47 and the closure is released simultaneously from the clips and 64. With the closure in this position it may conveniently-be ad- 5 justed by an outward pressure near the hinge side. Those familiar with .the concealed cabinet have no difiiculty of any kind in handling the closure without ever touching the face of the mirror.

0 When fully or partly open the mirror has three movements giving it perfect-freedom of action. The mirror may turn about the vertical axis of pivot 34; it may pivot about a vertical axis thru the hinge portion 32 of 5 the bracket and it may turn about a horizontal axis thru the center of the shaft 43. With the mirror at right angles to thesurface of the wall all three of these axes will lie in a single plane. A striking feature of t theinvention lies, in the provision whereby the mirror may be closed by a direct push on the face of the mirror from any position. The closure will strike against the face of the casing and will be directed into closing 5 position with that edge of the casing as a fulcrum. This is a great convenience, in that the closing can always be done by ones arm for example, thus avoiding placing ones hands or fingers on the highly polished sur- 0 face of the heavy mirror.

What I claim is:

1. In a device of the character described,-

when opened may be turned to any convenient angle, said mirror in closed position engaging the wall to conceal the cabinet and hide the arm, the member, and the friction means, whereby an observer sees the closure mirror as if hung upon an unbroken wall andresilient means carried by the backing to engage the arm to hold the parts in closed position.

2. In a concealed wall cabinet, a closure mirror therefor being larger than the face of the cabinet whereby to completely conceal the same when in closed position against the face of the cabinet, a hinge for securing the closure mirror to the cabinet comprising a rotatable supporting member the axis of which is horizontal, means for pivotally supporting the mirror on said member, a base to be secured within the cabinet and an arm receivable within the cabinet pivotally connected with the base and with said member thru parallel vertical axes, whereby when the mirror is pressed toward the cabinet it will engage the same and thereby be directed automatically into vertical closed position, irrespective of the tilt of the mirror when .last used.

device is closed the mirror can be readily opened by pulling forwardly on the top of the mirror, releasing the clasps while using the bottom of the mirror as afulcrum.

4. In a device of the character described, a cabinet to be set in a wall opening with its open front face substantially flush with the surface of the wall, an ornamental mirror closure of sufficient size to conceal the wall opening, a backing, means for securing the mirror to the backing, an arm hinged to the cabinet, a member mounted on said arm to turn about a vertical axis thru the free end of the arm, and friction means adjustably securing the backing to the member with freedom for turning about a horizontal axis thru said member so that the mirror when opened may be turned to any convenient angle; said mirror in closed position engaging the wall to conceal the cabinet and hide the arm, the member, and the frictidn means, whereby an observer sees the closure mirror'as if hung upon an unbroken wall as an independent ornamental wall attachment.

5. A bathroom cabinet consisting of a box having top, bottom, two sides and a back and adapted to be fitted into a vertical wall of the bathroom flush with the vertical surface of the wall so that the front edges of the top, bottom, and sides of the box will be flush with said surface which will thus form a frame for the cabinet opening, a mirror cover for the cabinet of such size as to completely cover the opening and said front edges, a bracket hinged to the mirror cover near one side and hinged to the cabinet at the other side, said bracket lying entirely within the cabinet space when the mirror closure is in closed position, and said mirror closure lying flush against the wall surface when in closed position.

6. In a concealed bathroom cabinet, an open face box-like body to be set in a wall opening, a mirror closure of such size as to completely hide the wall opening and a bracket hinged to the box-like body on one vertical inside wall and hinged to the mirror closure near the opposite vertical wall, each hinged end of the bracket having a vertical axis so that the mirror closure in opening may move constantly parallel to the wall surface and additional lunge means on the bracket whereby the closure when open may turn about a horizontal axis.

7. In a concealed wall cabinet, a cabinet having sides, a bottom and a top, a closure larger than the face of the cabinet, a holder secured to one side of the cabinet, a bracket hinged to the holder, a vertical pivot at the free end of the bracket, a clamp on the closure and means receivable within the cabinet when the closure is against the plaster line of the-wall for joining the pivot to the' clamp so that the closure, when open, may be tilted about an axis thru said means, about a vertical axis thru said pivot, and about the axis thru which the bracket swings in the holder.

8. In combination, a closure mirror, a concealed cabinet, a hinge for securing said 010- sure mirror to said concealed cabinet comprising a shaft, means for pivotally supporting the mirror on the shaft, means secured within the cabinet, and an arm receivable within the cabinet pivotally connected with said second mentioned means and the shaft thru parallel axes, the said shaft axis being horizontal and the parallel axes being vertical, whereby when the mirror is pressed toward the cabinet it will be directed automatically into vertical closed position by engagement with the cabinet or its supporting wall, irresplective of the tilt of the mirror when last use In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

HARRY P. EDWARD. 

